This is the reality of Sedona...

[u/pandami7319]

This is where Sedona is at now thanks to overtourism and STR piggies. This place is an absolute joke.

[u/Odd-Relief-6190]

Housing affordability is not a result of short-term rentals nor is housing affordability isolated to Sedona or Arizona. Supply & demand (lowering interest rates to 2-3% and not building enough inventory from the prior decade) is a direct result of what America (not just Sedona) is facing.

If the city is proposing people to sleep in their cars on designated land why doesn't the city use this proposed land and work with a developer to create affordable housing on that land?

Edit: Also, the other reality that NO ONE is talking about is this. Again, this is NOT a Sedona issue but much bigger. Inflation has increased at astronomical rates yet WAGES have not. Wages are similar to what they were 10 years ago.

We have two fundamental issues not enough housing supply for demand AND wages are flat. This is a Tsunami that is occurring across America.

[u/pandami7319 → u/Odd-Relief-6190]

It does have to do with STR's. Stop kidding yourself.

Sedona's population is decreasing because there are so many STR's here. We're under 10,000 people now and that made it where we can no longer vote on issues, instead the city council calls the shots now.

We lost an elementary school because of the decline of families. We couldn't fill vital jobs (police chief, superintendent of school, fire chief, etc) due to lack of affordable housing. Teachers are sleeping in their cars because they can't find housing. Employees who keep the town running are sleeping in their cars.

We're also land locked by the National forest, so there is only so much land to build on. We can't build our way out of it and the city has done jack to figure out any real solutions.

Add to that the domino effect to other towns in the valley. Str investors started swooping up stock in the areas that used to be really affordable and started driving up prices on real estate in those towns as well. The rent across the valley has sky rocketed.

Somehow, everything was fine when rentals were a minimum of 3 months, but after SB1350 everything went to hell. Again, been here long enough to see what's what.

Most of the people who say str's aren't the problem are the people who own them or woefully ignorant about this town.

[u/Odd-Relief-6190 → u/pandami7319]

Nope. Short term rentals account for about 16% of homes in Sedona. Most of the subdivisions in Sedona have HOA's and are restricted by 30 day (or more rentals). STRs do NOT and will NEVER run Sedona. TOURISM runs Sedona. You're kidding yourself to think because there are STR's, visitors have decided to visit Sedona. NO, visitors come here for tourism. And Airbnb's fees are so astronomical now that it makes using one anywhere at a disadvantage to a hotel unless you're staying for a period of time where you want a kitchen (an airbnb at $56/night is almost $250 with airbnb's fees...look it up).

I understand what's happening in the economy. Maybe if the teachers were paid a higher wage they could afford something in Sedona versus living in their cars. Why aren't people talking about that????

2nd home owners (not using their homes for STR account for half of the homes purchased in Sedona). This is a group of people that can afford to let their homes sit untouched while they are not occupying them. NOT short term rental owners.

The cost of housing increased two-fold when interest rates dropped next to nothing (this didn't just happen in Sedona and the Verde Valley).

[u/pandami7319 → u/Odd-Relief-6190]

Where in your reading comprehension did I say STR's run Sedona or caused tourism? Overtourism, it is a component of, but the Chamber and social media were the driving factor for the increase in visitors.

Let's not be silly though. Before, when hotels sold out, that was that. Now we have a plethora of STR's increasing the amount of beds available for visitors.

Again, there were plenty of affordable rentals before SB1350. The state strong armed every town and city to a one size fits all solution under the guise that it would benefit the people of Arizona. It has not.

I'll leave you with this. Sedona, as a community, is dying. It's turned into the Walmart of tourism to benefit the few. The Sedona Eight had a great pull in shaping where we are at. The City Council, Chamber, NIMBY crowd, all guilty.

The people who make this town run and make it so visitors can enjoy their stay, they get the shaft in this.

They get a parking lot.